IQE Regulatory News (IQE)

17 Jan 2008 07:00

IQE PLC17 January 2008 17 January 2008 IQE plc Year end trading update - 2007 revenues expected to be around US$100m IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "the Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced waferproducts and services to the semiconductor industry, is pleased to publish atrading update for the year to 31 December 2007. Group revenues for the year are expected to be approximately US$100m, up around65% in dollar terms year on year. This represents the third consecutive year ofsequential revenue growth, averaging around 50% p.a. Trading in December proved to be very strong following the successfulqualification of products and tools with various customers across the Group,resulting in record revenues for the month. These and additional qualificationscurrently in progress also secure the foundations for significantly moreproduction capacity in 2008. EBITDA continued to increase from the first half of 2007, as a result of thegood growth in revenue coupled with the Group's high operational gearing andtight cost control, and is expected to be in line with market expectations,despite the adverse effect of the sterling/dollar exchange rate. Sales of the Group's wireless products have been particularly strong as aconsequence of the Group expanding its customer base, product portfolio andgeographical reach during 2007 and the acquisitions made during 2006 haveperformed extremely well. The majority of the Group's customers are focussed onproducts for the advanced upgrade smart phone market, WiFi (802.11n), WiMAX, GPSand other high speed wireless markets. All of these have a high reliance onCompound Semiconductor based chips and have continued to show strong growth. The Group has also made substantial progress in developing additional futurehigh volume products, including advanced solar cells and solid state lighting,both of which are destined to play a major role in the global drive to a moreenvironmentally friendly and sustainable energy model. In addition, the Grouphas established a leadership position in advanced materials combinations forultra high speed integrated electronics applications. The Board expects IQE's markets to remain strong, particularly those linked tohigh speed wireless applications. The demand for such advanced technologiescontinues to grow as evidenced by the myriad of new and emerging applications atlast weeks' Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. IQE expects to publish its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December2007 during the week commencing 17 March 2008. ----- For further information contact IQE plc : Drew Nelson, President & Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)29 2083 9400Phillip Rasmussen, Chief Finance OfficerChris Meadows, Investor Relations Executive Noble + 44 (0) 20 7763 2200John Llewellyn-Lloyd/Andy Yeo Panmure Gordon +44 (0) 20 7459 3600Aubrey Powell/Ashton Clanfield College Hill Adrian Duffield/Ben Way +44 (0)20 7457 2020 NOTE TO EDITORS IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers withproducts that cover a diverse range of applications, supported by an innovativeoutsourced foundry services portfolio that allows the Group to provide a 'onestop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading semiconductormanufacturers. IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supplybespoke semiconductor wafers ('epi-wafers') to the major chip manufacturingcompanies, who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the keycomponents of virtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being ableto supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms. IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computingand industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products forthe wireless industry, such as mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure,Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; opticalcommunications, optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mouse, laser printers &photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products, barcode, highefficiency LEDs and a variety of advanced silicon based systems. The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource waferproduction to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafercosts and accelerate time to market. IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials forspecific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture tospecification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. TheGroup is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the costof raw materials. In this way IQE's outsourced services, provide compellingbenefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, therebysignificantly reducing operating risk. IQE operates six manufacturing facilities located in Cardiff (two) and MiltonKeynes in the UK; in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Somerset, New Jersey in theUSA; and Singapore. The Group also has 11 sales offices located in majoreconomic centres worldwide. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange